Spring fabric



L. W.A BOYNTON.

SPRING FABRIC.

Patented Sept. 11, 1883.

(No Model.)

Nrrnn STATES YSPRING PATENT OFFICE.

FABRIC.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 284,717', datedSeptember 11, 1883.

Application led December 22, 1882.

(No model.)

' utilized to the best advantage, and in which the springs themselvesshall form a great part of the horizontal surface of the fabric; and Iaccomplish this by the mechanism substantially as hereinafter described,and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure I is aplan view of a spring-bed, showing an adaptation of my improved springfabric to that purpose. Fig. II is a side elevation of the same; andFig. III is a vertical 'section at line A of Fig. I, showing means forsecuring the end rail in a stationary position.

In the drawings, l represents the two side rails, and 2 the end rails,of a spring-bed, secured at their ends to the rails l by a casting, as3, and bolts or screws inserted through the casting and turned into eachside and end rail near or at their ends. These castings may be of anydesired form or pattern, and

may be ornamented to any desired degree.

The springs 4, I make of straight steel wire of suitable size say of No.l0 or No. l2 gage,

according to the strength desired-and I give it a general corrugated orserpentine form,V

with the corrugations of, say, approximately 4an inch in depth, asgiving a good result.

This form may be given to the wire very conveniently by passing it,either directly from the. coil or cut iiitddesii'ed lengths, between twogeared or cog wheels, whose teeth or cogs are of suitable forni anddistances vapart to give the wire the general corrugated or serpentineform, as shown in Fig. I. Ifthewire is given this form in continuouslengths, it is then cut in suitable lengths to extend, preferably, theentire width of the fabric from side to side, and each end of eachlength bent around Yto form, substantially, a ring orloop, as shown inFig. I.

Vhen this improved fabric is to be used in the manufacture of portablespring-beds, a

strap or flat band of metal, as iron, and shown at 6, is secured to thetop of each end rail, 2, the edge of said band overlying the inner sideof the rail a little, as shown at Fig. I, in which the dotted lineindicates the inner side of the is perforated with holes 7 at the samedistances apart as the distances between the corrugations in the wire 4.These series of corrugated or serpentine wires or springs 4 are securedtaut and in a horizontal plane by a series of short wires, 5, bentsomewhat into the form of a hook at each end, as shown clearly in Fio.II, and each is hooked at one end into one of the corrugations'of onewire or spring 4, and

of the next wire or spring 4, as shown clearly in Fig. I, and at eachend of the short wires or links 5 are drawn taut and hooked into theholes 7 in each en d band, 6.

In forming aspring-bed aseries of the wires or springs 4 are used, a fewinches apart, as shown clearly in Fig. I, and they may be convenientlysecured in place, or the bed set up,77 by iirst securing only one of thebands 6 in place on one end, 2, and hooking the wires or links 5 intothe holes 7 in said band, andthen hooking the other ends of those wiresor links into the alternate bends or corrugations of a wire or spring,4, or intothose bends or corrugations which extend toward 'those wiresor links 5 which are hooked into the holes 7 VAnother second series ofshort wires or links 5 are Vthen hooked at one end into the otheralternate bands, or into those which extend in the opposite directionfrom those first mentioned, and the other ends of said second series ofshort wires or .links 5 are hooked into the bands or corrugations ofan'- other wire or spring 4, and so on, this operation of hooking on aseries of short wires or links 5 and -then a corrugated wire or spring 4being continued the entire length of thebed. Short wires or links 5 arealso hooked from the ring or loop at the end of each wire or spring 4 tothat ofthe next, to secure them all properly in line at each edge of thefabric, as shown clearly in Fig. I; and when the wires or springs havebeen all thus linked together in place the free ends ,of the last row orseries of short wires or links 5 are hooked into the holes 7 of thererail, and the inneroverlying edge of each band p at the other end intothe opposite corrugation IOO maining band 6 before the latter is securedto the end?, of the frame. Any suitable deviceas three or four smallscrew-clamps-may then be attached to the rail 2 along its length andalong the unsecured band 6, and by turning the screw of each clamp thewhole series of connected wires, or the whole fabric, together with theunsecured band 6, are drawn taut, and the latter secured into place tothe top of the end rail, 2.

The wires or springs 4 may be tempered, if desired, to any degree ofhardness or spring temper, although a good and durable spring fabric maybe made of ordinary untempered steel wire 5 and these wires, instead ofextending across the entire width of the fabric, may extend onlypartially across, ,and two or more of them beplaced togetherendwise,with loops or rings formed at their ends, and connected togetherby'a link or wire 5, as shown at B. The operation would, however, inthat case be precisely the same as that hereinbefore described, and Iprefer to make them to extend the whole width of the fabric, as beingmore convenient to manipulate and less expensive.

By making the springs 4 as above described, I am enabled to utilize theelastic qualities of the wire in every direction, both lengthwise thewire and across the fabric and transversely across the wire andlengthwise the fabric; and as each wire or spring 4 operates elasticallyin direct connection with the adjacent ones along each side of it, theelastic qualities of the wires or springs are evenly and uniformlydistributed over a comparativelylarge horizontal area.

This fabric maybe made cheaply and quickly, and, owing to this largehorizontal distribution of the elastic properties of the wire, acomparatively small quantity, in weight, of metal is required.

Vhen thisfabric is used in the construction of beds, it is evident thatonly the two endv rails, 2, need be used, with a band, 6, secured toeach, so that they may be shipped by rolling the end rails and thewires, all secured together, into a roll, and the end rails be after'ward secured to the side rails, or to the side rails of a bedstead, inany desired manner, with the connected wires stretched horizontally andtaut between.

I am aware that a spring fabric has heretofore been made containing aseries of transverse wires bent in an angular form, and in Which eachwire between each two adjacent angles was straight, as shown in patentto A. Youngs, November 16, 1875, instead of curved, as shown inlily-construction; and I do not claim a fabric inwhieh any portion ofeach transverse spring is not a continuous curve or a series ofcontinuous curves in opposite directions, alternating with each other inthe same plane. 'Ihese springs, having this series of continuousalternating curves in the same plane, have a much better elasticquality, are stronger and more durable, and are more uniform in theiraction, whereas springs any kpart of which are made straight are apt tobecome bent and set, and are then worthless for any purpose requiringelastic qualities.

Instead of the inner edge of the bands 6 being perforated and the shortwires or links 5 hooking into said perforations 7, the wires or links ateach end of the fabric might extend out over the band and hook over itsouter edge, as shown at C, without departing in the least from theoperation of the invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new is An improvedspring fabric consisting of a series of serpentine springs, each ofwhich is formed by alternate curves to and fro in the same plane alongits entire length, and a series of hooked wires or links connecting thecurves in each said spring with those of the next adjacent spring,substantially as described.

LEANDER XV. BOYNTON. "Witnesses:

T. A. CURTIs, CHAs. H. Woon.

